DockerCLI/docs/reference/commandline/cli.md

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docker

To list available commands, either run docker with no parameters or execute docker help:

The base command for the Docker CLI.

Subcommands

Name	Description
attach	Attach local standard input, output, and error streams to a running container
build	Build an image from a Dockerfile
builder	Manage builds
checkpoint	Manage checkpoints
commit	Create a new image from a container's changes
config	Manage Swarm configs
container	Manage containers
context	Manage contexts
cp	Copy files/folders between a container and the local filesystem
create	Create a new container
diff	Inspect changes to files or directories on a container's filesystem
events	Get real time events from the server
exec	Execute a command in a running container
export	Export a container's filesystem as a tar archive
history	Show the history of an image
image	Manage images
images	List images
import	Import the contents from a tarball to create a filesystem image
info	Display system-wide information
inspect	Return low-level information on Docker objects
kill	Kill one or more running containers
load	Load an image from a tar archive or STDIN
login	Log in to a registry
logout	Log out from a registry
logs	Fetch the logs of a container
manifest	Manage Docker image manifests and manifest lists
network	Manage networks
node	Manage Swarm nodes
pause	Pause all processes within one or more containers
plugin	Manage plugins
port	List port mappings or a specific mapping for the container
ps	List containers
pull	Download an image from a registry
push	Upload an image to a registry
rename	Rename a container
restart	Restart one or more containers
rm	Remove one or more containers
rmi	Remove one or more images
run	Create and run a new container from an image
save	Save one or more images to a tar archive (streamed to STDOUT by default)
search	Search Docker Hub for images
secret	Manage Swarm secrets
service	Manage Swarm services
stack	Manage Swarm stacks
start	Start one or more stopped containers
stats	Display a live stream of container(s) resource usage statistics
stop	Stop one or more running containers
swarm	Manage Swarm
system	Manage Docker
tag	Create a tag TARGET_IMAGE that refers to SOURCE_IMAGE
top	Display the running processes of a container
trust	Manage trust on Docker images
unpause	Unpause all processes within one or more containers
update	Update configuration of one or more containers
version	Show the Docker version information
volume	Manage volumes
wait	Block until one or more containers stop, then print their exit codes

Options

Name	Type	Default	Description
--config	string	/root/.docker	Location of client config files
-c, --context	string		Name of the context to use to connect to the daemon (overrides DOCKER_HOST env var and default context set with docker context use)
-D, --debug			Enable debug mode
-H, --host	list		Daemon socket to connect to
-l, --log-level	string	info	Set the logging level (debug, info, warn, error, fatal)
--tls			Use TLS; implied by --tlsverify
--tlscacert	string	/root/.docker/ca.pem	Trust certs signed only by this CA
--tlscert	string	/root/.docker/cert.pem	Path to TLS certificate file
--tlskey	string	/root/.docker/key.pem	Path to TLS key file
--tlsverify			Use TLS and verify the remote

Description

Depending on your Docker system configuration, you may be required to preface each docker command with sudo. To avoid having to use sudo with the docker command, your system administrator can create a Unix group called docker and add users to it.

For more information about installing Docker or sudo configuration, refer to the installation instructions for your operating system.

Environment variables

The following list of environment variables are supported by the docker command line:

Variable	Description
DOCKER_API_VERSION	Override the negotiated API version to use for debugging (e.g. 1.19)
DOCKER_CERT_PATH	Location of your authentication keys. This variable is used both by the docker CLI and the dockerd daemon
DOCKER_CONFIG	The location of your client configuration files.
DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST_SERVER	The URL of the Notary server to use. Defaults to the same URL as the registry.
DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST	When set Docker uses notary to sign and verify images. Equates to --disable-content-trust=false for build, create, pull, push, run.
DOCKER_CONTEXT	Name of the docker context to use (overrides DOCKER_HOST env var and default context set with docker context use)
DOCKER_DEFAULT_PLATFORM	Default platform for commands that take the --platform flag.
DOCKER_HIDE_LEGACY_COMMANDS	When set, Docker hides "legacy" top-level commands (such as docker rm, and docker pull) in docker help output, and only Management commands per object-type (e.g., docker container) are printed. This may become the default in a future release.
DOCKER_HOST	Daemon socket to connect to.
DOCKER_TLS	Enable TLS for connections made by the docker CLI (equivalent of the --tls command-line option). Set to a non-empty value to enable TLS. Note that TLS is enabled automatically if any of the other TLS options are set.
DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY	When set Docker uses TLS and verifies the remote. This variable is used both by the docker CLI and the dockerd daemon
BUILDKIT_PROGRESS	Set type of progress output (auto, plain, tty) when building with BuildKit backend. Use plain to show container output (default auto).

Because Docker is developed using Go, you can also use any environment variables used by the Go runtime. In particular, you may find these useful:

Variable	Description
HTTP_PROXY	Proxy URL for HTTP requests unless overridden by NoProxy.
HTTPS_PROXY	Proxy URL for HTTPS requests unless overridden by NoProxy.
NO_PROXY	Comma-separated values specifying hosts that should be excluded from proxying.

See the Go specification for details on these variables.

Configuration files

By default, the Docker command line stores its configuration files in a directory called .docker within your $HOME directory.

Docker manages most of the files in the configuration directory and you should not modify them. However, you can modify the config.json file to control certain aspects of how the docker command behaves.

You can modify the docker command behavior using environment variables or command-line options. You can also use options within config.json to modify some of the same behavior. If an environment variable and the --config flag are set, the flag takes precedent over the environment variable. Command line options override environment variables and environment variables override properties you specify in a config.json file.

Change the .docker directory

To specify a different directory, use the DOCKER_CONFIG environment variable or the --config command line option. If both are specified, then the --config option overrides the DOCKER_CONFIG environment variable. The example below overrides the docker ps command using a config.json file located in the ~/testconfigs/ directory.

$ docker --config ~/testconfigs/ ps

This flag only applies to whatever command is being ran. For persistent configuration, you can set the DOCKER_CONFIG environment variable in your shell (e.g. ~/.profile or ~/.bashrc). The example below sets the new directory to be HOME/newdir/.docker.

$ echo export DOCKER_CONFIG=$HOME/newdir/.docker > ~/.profile

Docker CLI configuration file (config.json) properties

Use the Docker CLI configuration to customize settings for the docker CLI. The configuration file uses JSON formatting, and properties:

By default, configuration file is stored in ~/.docker/config.json. Refer to the change the .docker directory section to use a different location.

Warning

The configuration file and other files inside the ~/.docker configuration directory may contain sensitive information, such as authentication information for proxies or, depending on your credential store, credentials for your image registries. Review your configuration file's content before sharing with others, and prevent committing the file to version control.

Customize the default output format for commands

These fields allow you to customize the default output format for some commands if no --format flag is provided.

Property	Description
configFormat	Custom default format for docker config ls output. Refer to the format the output section in the docker config ls documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
imagesFormat	Custom default format for docker images / docker image ls output. Refer to the format the output section in the docker images documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
nodesFormat	Custom default format for docker node ls output. Refer to the formatting section in the docker node ls documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
pluginsFormat	Custom default format for docker plugin ls output. Refer to the formatting section in the docker plugin ls documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
psFormat	Custom default format for docker ps / docker container ps output. Refer to the formatting section in the docker ps documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
secretFormat	Custom default format for docker secret ls output. Refer to the format the output section in the docker secret ls documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
serviceInspectFormat	Custom default format for docker service inspect output. Refer to the formatting section in the docker service inspect documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
servicesFormat	Custom default format for docker service ls output. Refer to the formatting section in the docker service ls documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.
statsFormat	Custom default format for docker stats output. Refer to the formatting section in the docker stats documentation for a list of supported formatting directives.

Custom HTTP headers

The property HttpHeaders specifies a set of headers to include in all messages sent from the Docker client to the daemon. Docker does not try to interpret or understand these headers; it simply puts them into the messages. Docker does not allow these headers to change any headers it sets for itself.

Credential store options

The property credsStore specifies an external binary to serve as the default credential store. When this property is set, docker login will attempt to store credentials in the binary specified by docker-credential-<value> which is visible on $PATH. If this property is not set, credentials will be stored in the auths property of the config. For more information, see the Credential stores section in the docker login documentation

The property credHelpers specifies a set of credential helpers to use preferentially over credsStore or auths when storing and retrieving credentials for specific registries. If this property is set, the binary docker-credential-<value> will be used when storing or retrieving credentials for a specific registry. For more information, see the Credential helpers section in the docker login documentation

Automatic proxy configuration for containers

The property proxies specifies proxy environment variables to be automatically set on containers, and set as --build-arg on containers used during docker build. A "default" set of proxies can be configured, and will be used for any docker daemon that the client connects to, or a configuration per host (docker daemon), for example, "https://docker-daemon1.example.com". The following properties can be set for each environment:

Property	Description
httpProxy	Default value of HTTP_PROXY and http_proxy for containers, and as --build-arg on docker build
httpsProxy	Default value of HTTPS_PROXY and https_proxy for containers, and as --build-arg on docker build
ftpProxy	Default value of FTP_PROXY and ftp_proxy for containers, and as --build-arg on docker build
noProxy	Default value of NO_PROXY and no_proxy for containers, and as --build-arg on docker build
allProxy	Default value of ALL_PROXY and all_proxy for containers, and as --build-arg on docker build

These settings are used to configure proxy settings for containers only, and not used as proxy settings for the docker CLI or the dockerd daemon. Refer to the environment variables and HTTP/HTTPS proxy sections for configuring proxy settings for the cli and daemon.

Warning

Proxy settings may contain sensitive information (for example, if the proxy requires authentication). Environment variables are stored as plain text in the container's configuration, and as such can be inspected through the remote API or committed to an image when using docker commit.

Default key-sequence to detach from containers

Once attached to a container, users detach from it and leave it running using the using CTRL-p CTRL-q key sequence. This detach key sequence is customizable using the detachKeys property. Specify a <sequence> value for the property. The format of the <sequence> is a comma-separated list of either a letter [a-Z], or the ctrl- combined with any of the following:

• a-z (a single lowercase alpha character )
• @ (at sign)
• [ (left bracket)
• \\ (two backward slashes)
• _ (underscore)
• ^ (caret)

Your customization applies to all containers started in with your Docker client. Users can override your custom or the default key sequence on a per-container basis. To do this, the user specifies the --detach-keys flag with the docker attach, docker exec, docker run or docker start command.

CLI Plugin options

The property plugins contains settings specific to CLI plugins. The key is the plugin name, while the value is a further map of options, which are specific to that plugin.

Sample configuration file

Following is a sample config.json file to illustrate the format used for various fields:

{% raw %}
{
  "HttpHeaders": {
    "MyHeader": "MyValue"
  },
  "psFormat": "table {{.ID}}\\t{{.Image}}\\t{{.Command}}\\t{{.Labels}}",
  "imagesFormat": "table {{.ID}}\\t{{.Repository}}\\t{{.Tag}}\\t{{.CreatedAt}}",
  "pluginsFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.Enabled}}",
  "statsFormat": "table {{.Container}}\t{{.CPUPerc}}\t{{.MemUsage}}",
  "servicesFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.Mode}}",
  "secretFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.CreatedAt}}\t{{.UpdatedAt}}",
  "configFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Name}}\t{{.CreatedAt}}\t{{.UpdatedAt}}",
  "serviceInspectFormat": "pretty",
  "nodesFormat": "table {{.ID}}\t{{.Hostname}}\t{{.Availability}}",
  "detachKeys": "ctrl-e,e",
  "credsStore": "secretservice",
  "credHelpers": {
    "awesomereg.example.org": "hip-star",
    "unicorn.example.com": "vcbait"
  },
  "plugins": {
    "plugin1": {
      "option": "value"
    },
    "plugin2": {
      "anotheroption": "anothervalue",
      "athirdoption": "athirdvalue"
    }
  },
  "proxies": {
    "default": {
      "httpProxy":  "http://user:pass@example.com:3128",
      "httpsProxy": "https://my-proxy.example.com:3129",
      "noProxy":    "intra.mycorp.example.com",
      "ftpProxy":   "http://user:pass@example.com:3128",
      "allProxy":   "socks://example.com:1234"
    },
    "https://manager1.mycorp.example.com:2377": {
      "httpProxy":  "http://user:pass@example.com:3128",
      "httpsProxy": "https://my-proxy.example.com:3129"
    }
  }
}
{% endraw %}

Experimental features

Experimental features provide early access to future product functionality. These features are intended for testing and feedback, and they may change between releases without warning or can be removed from a future release.

Starting with Docker 20.10, experimental CLI features are enabled by default, and require no configuration to enable them.

Notary

If using your own notary server and a self-signed certificate or an internal Certificate Authority, you need to place the certificate at tls/<registry_url>/ca.crt in your docker config directory.

Alternatively you can trust the certificate globally by adding it to your system's list of root Certificate Authorities.

Examples

Specify daemon host (-H, --host)

You can use the -H, --host flag to specify a socket to use when you invoke a docker command. You can use the following protocols:

Scheme	Description	Example
unix://[<path>]	Unix socket (Linux only)	unix:///var/run/docker.sock
tcp://[<IP or host>[:port]]	TCP connection	tcp://174.17.0.1:2376
ssh://[username@]<IP or host>[:port]	SSH connection	ssh://user@192.168.64.5
npipe://[<name>]	Named pipe (Windows only)	npipe:////./pipe/docker_engine

If you don't specify the -H flag, and you're not using a custom context, commands use the following default sockets:

• unix:///var/run/docker.sock on macOS and Linux
• npipe:////./pipe/docker_engine on Windows

To achieve a similar effect without having to specify the -H flag for every command, you could also create a context, or alternatively, use the DOCKER_HOST environment variable.

For more information about the -H flag, see Daemon socket option.

Using TCP sockets

The following example shows how to invoke docker ps over TCP, to a remote daemon with IP address 174.17.0.1, listening on port 2376:

$ docker -H tcp://174.17.0.1:2376 ps

Note

By convention, the Docker daemon uses port 2376 for secure TLS connections, and port 2375 for insecure, non-TLS connections.

Using SSH sockets

When you use SSH invoke a command on a remote daemon, the request gets forwarded to the /var/run/docker.sock Unix socket on the SSH host.

$ docker -H ssh://user@192.168.64.5 ps

Display help text

To list the help on any command just execute the command, followed by the --help option.

$ docker run --help

Usage: docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Create and run a new container from an image

Options:
      --add-host value             Add a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip) (default [])
  -a, --attach value               Attach to STDIN, STDOUT or STDERR (default [])
<...>

Option types

Single character command line options can be combined, so rather than typing docker run -i -t --name test busybox sh, you can write docker run -it --name test busybox sh.

Boolean

Boolean options take the form -d=false. The value you see in the help text is the default value which is set if you do not specify that flag. If you specify a Boolean flag without a value, this will set the flag to true, irrespective of the default value.

For example, running docker run -d will set the value to true, so your container will run in "detached" mode, in the background.

Options which default to true (e.g., docker build --rm=true) can only be set to the non-default value by explicitly setting them to false:

$ docker build --rm=false .

Multi

You can specify options like -a=[] multiple times in a single command line, for example in these commands:

$ docker run -a stdin -a stdout -i -t ubuntu /bin/bash

$ docker run -a stdin -a stdout -a stderr ubuntu /bin/ls

Sometimes, multiple options can call for a more complex value string as for -v:

$ docker run -v /host:/container example/mysql

Note

Do not use the -t and -a stderr options together due to limitations in the pty implementation. All stderr in pty mode simply goes to stdout.

Strings and Integers

Options like --name="" expect a string, and they can only be specified once. Options like -c=0 expect an integer, and they can only be specified once.